


The Contest Of Wits

by greenkangaroo



Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen, hashirama is bad at diplomacy, madara is only slightly less bad, the building of konoha, who knows how they ever managed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-18
Updated: 2016-09-18
Packaged: 2018-08-15 20:51:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8072332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greenkangaroo/pseuds/greenkangaroo
Summary: Hashirama Senju and Uchiha Madara were not men who were used to being laughed at. Inoko Yamanaka did not care.





	

**Author's Note:**

> As told in The Sum Of the Parts: "the first Ino-Shika-Cho, so it was said, won the right to join in the building of Konoha by beating Hashirama Senju and Uchiha Madara in a contest of wits." This is how that might have happened. The three Clan Heads of the Akimichi, Nara, and Yamanaka are original characters as no information on them was ever provided by canon.

Hashirama Senju and Uchiha Madara were not men who were used to being laughed at. 

Inoko Yamanaka did not care. 

"You-" she could barely wheeze it out, holding her sides. "You want- a- a-" 

"Truce." Shikana Nara said placidly, relighting her pipe and eyeing the two ninja on the other side of the firepit.

"OH MY GOD IT HURTS!" Inoko nearly beat the wooden floor. "You two! YOU TWO!" 

"Sa, Inoko." The big auburn-haired man who sat between both Shikana and the blonde frowned at her, the motion distorting the red X seals on his cheeks. "Don't be so rude." 

"Oh spare me, Chouga." She said, wiping tears from her eyes. "This is the funniest thing I've heard in years." 

Madara was frowning but Hashirama was chuckling. "Yes, I suppose it does sound absurd." He agreed. "Be that as it may, we mean what we say. We wish to form an alliance. This endless war does no one any good." 

"You don't say." Shikana drawled, blowing a smoke ring in Hashirama's direction. "A fascinating pet idea, Senju-san, but hardly realistic." 

"We disagree." That came from Madara and it surprised Shikana. "An alliance of clans under one banner would be far more powerful than splintered groups." 

"As I said. A fascinating pet idea." Shikana leveled her dark eyes on Madara. "What makes you think it will work? Every clan for themselves, Uchiha. That's how it is, that's how it's been." 

"That is not how it is with you three." Hashirama said gently. 

Inoko's perfect brows rose. "Oho. I see where this is going." 

"I think I do, too." Chouga said. "Hashirama-san, an alliance of three clans is not the same as a, a village of united ninja. What you're asking for is difficult. It could be impossible." 

"I know." Hashirama said. "That is why we approached you first." 

"Couldn't convince the Aburame, huh?" Inoko asked with sympathy. Madara glanced sharply at her. She smiled at him, unafraid in the face of his blood colored eyes. Even the head of the Uchiha Clan wasn't stupid enough to attack the Matriarch of the Yamanaka on Nara land. 

"You think if we back your idea you'll draw more powerful clans." Shikana said. "Either clans that have defeated us in the past or wish to defeat us. You'll keep gathering strength until you have an army."

"Not an army." Hashirama disagreed. "A village." 

"What is a village full of ninja, Hashirama-san," Chouga asked, "but an army?" 

"Skill is important, but dedication to a single cause moreso." Madara answered. "The point is to bring an end to the fighting." 

"A sound tactic in war but not a wise one in peace." Shikana countered. "You'll draw volatile clans who won't be able to unite." 

"We'll make them unite!" Hashirama insisted. 

"How? With your good looks and charisma?" Inoko asked curiously. 

"with purpose and drive." Senju said. "With a real, lasting peace." 

Shikana snorted. "Peace, says the Head of the Senju Clan." 

"The Senju and the Uchiha have laid their differences to rest." Madara said. 

Shikana took a long draw on her pipe and caught Inoko's pale blue eye. The blonde woman looked from her friend to Chouga, who glanced at them both and then smiled. 

"We'll consider it." Chouga said. "On one condition." 

Madara and Hashirama exchanged looks. 

"What kind of condition?" Madara asked. 

"Nothing bloody." Inoko promised with a tiny smile. "Not even something very hard. We can do it right now, if you'd like."

"What are you thinking of?" Hashirama asked.

"One match. The two of you verses the three of us." Shikana said. " A single game of shogi." 

Madara's brow dove like a hawk and Hashirama sounded rightly incredulous as he asked, "That's it?" 

"That's it." Chouga confirmed. 

"Well hell we'll do it." Hashirama said. "Right, Madara?" 

Madara looked pensive for a moment before nodding. "Agreed." 

"Good!" Inoko clapped. "I'll get the board." 

Madara and Hashirama played the black pieces, Chouga, Shikana, and Inoko the white. Chouga sat to Shikana's left, and Inoko took up his place between them, one hand on each of her comrades' shoulders. 

It wasn't long before Hashirama and Madara realized that this was more than a simple shogi game. 

Their soldiers pressed forward; the white soldiers pressed back. 

Madara utilized genjutsu, switching piece places on the battlefield. Choga sacrificed a portion of his forces, but Inoko was right behind him and swept through their defense. 

Shikana trapped their Gold General as Chouga regrouped. Hashirama made a bold feint but was beaten soundly by a combination of Chouga's defense and Inoko's offense. 

Madara homed in on the white king and found himself surrounded. Hashirama backed him up and he helped the other man's pieces advance. 

A bubble was forming and if it popped they would win, take everything. The Senju looked to the Uchiha and nodded. 

The pieces were played. 

the trap was sprung. 

Chouga swiftly moved their pieces. Inoko smiled like a cat. Shikana tapped the black king. 

"Ote." She said, the embers of her pipe lighting up her eyes. 

Hashirama let out a gut-busting sigh. "I was never as good at this as my father." He muttered. 

Madara shook his head. "Foolish. What do you get out of this?" 

"You did well." 

Madara looked up at Chouga.

"Better than we thought you would." The Akimichi Clan head clarified. 

"We lost." Hashirama pointed out, looking a bit bewildered. 

"But you defended one another." Inoko said. 

"There are only so many moves that can be made on a shogi board or a battlefield." Shikana began lining the pieces up again. "Even planning so far ahead is useless if you can't trust in the abilities of those who fight with you." 

Shikana tapped ash out of her pipe. Both she and Inoko looked at Chouga. 

He inclined his great head. 

Shikana turned her attention back to Madara and Hashirama. "We're in." She said. "For all the trouble it's going to cause." 

"So you'll do it?!" Hashirama nearly bolted to his feet in his excitement. "You'll join our alliance?!" 

"Yes, yes, we'll join your alliance." Inoko rolled her eyes. "And they call you a God of Shinobi, honestly, have some restraint." 

"Convincing your councils won't be easy." Madara said. 

"We'll manage." Chouga responded, and the diplomatic meeting of the Uchiha, Senju, Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichi clans was thus concluded. 

Well, mostly concluded; neither Madara nor Hashirama could escape the Nara compound without a veritable cartload of food. 

"Are they fattening us up to eat us?" Hashirama wondered, and Madara- contemplating Chouga's too-wide smile- said, "Maybe." 

That was that; as promised the Clans Akimichi, Yamanaka, and Nara would join in the building of the village that would, in time, come to be known as Konohagakagure-no-Sato, the Village Hidden By Leaves. 

Until she died, Inoko Yamanaka would laugh regularly at Uchiha Madara. 

He never would be able to do a damn thing about it.

**Author's Note:**

> I will be the first person to admit I know nothing of chess and even less of shogi, which is why the match was so vague. I regret nothing.


End file.
